BOSTON – With the streets boxed in by mountains of snow, florists in Boston and surrounding areas of New England are struggling to deliver Valentine's Day flowers.
Mitchell Check, who owns Check the Florist in Providence, Rhode Island, said he has hired extra drivers and is sending a "runner" with each one of them to deliver the flowers because the driver can't park or double-park when the streets are full of snow.
"It's an added expense, but it's the only way we're going to get the deliveries out, especially with more snow coming," Check said.
And it's not just red roses and chocolates at stake: All sorts of businesses are having trouble reaching customers after a string of storms buried Boston in 6 feet of snow over 18 days — the heaviest onslaught the city has ever seen.
Delivery truck drivers bringing beer kegs and other liquor supplies to downtown Boston bars and restaurants complained of impassable service alleys and iced-over loading ramps. And mail carriers said they were having difficulty navigating treacherously narrow neighborhood streets and snowy sidewalks.
"You just can't get down streets, so stuff gets delayed," said Anthony Teta, a postal worker in Medford, Massachusetts. "You do the best you can."
At All My Sons Moving, a New England branch manager reported that customers are already calling to reschedule their moves for the spring because they can't clear enough of the snow for the trucks and movers.
At Edible Arrangements in Brookline, worker Lisette Zayes said the store stopped taking orders for fruit bouquets that need to be delivered by Thursday to make sure the ones already in the system make it to their destination on time.
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